This is the web version of a list we publish twice-weekly in our newsletter. It comprises the most noteworthy food stories of the moment, selected by our editors. Get it first here.
More like Postponed, mate. Online delivery platform Postmates is delaying its Initial Public Offering (IPO) “due to market conditions,” Recode reports. Evidently, the company was spooked by the epic failure of WeWork and lackluster performances by peers like Lyft, Peloton, and Slack, all of which are trading below their initial prices. Is Postmates simply being cautious, or might it be the first domino to fall in a much larger cooling period for Silicon Valley?
Drive-thru Tinseltown. A freelance writer who’s hoping to make a career in Hollywood also works at McDonald’s. Why should she be ashamed? The pay is about what she’d make as an entry-level employee at a talent agency. Either way, she has to deal with hundreds of annoying people every day. The only thing to be ashamed of, Adriana Gomez-Weston writes for HuffPost, is the fact that jobs like hers are no longer seen as launching pads for the American dream.
Little orange man. The online market for collectible Cheetos is thriving, The Outline reports. Puffs shaped like lobster claws and lizards are commanding up to $3,500 on Ebay, though it’s not clear who’s buying. Of course, nothing good can ever last. The all-seeing marketers over at Frito-Lay have gotten in on the action, offering $50,000 for the best Cheeto and arguably ruining the fun in the process. Cheeto Instagram star Andy Huot (@CheeseCurlsofInstagram) says he “feels like a minion” to the corporation, adding that “[Frito-Lay] are the ones profiting in the end.” Guess that’s what happens when you make a corporate fan account?
Greenhouse ghost town. San Francisco once had a flower-growing industry. Now, only 18 empty greenhouses remain, on one city block in the city’s Portola district. A community group wants to turn the site into an urban farm, despite a developer’s plan to transform the lot into 63 homes, says The San Francisco Chronicle.
Hold the teff. About three-quarters of our food comes from just 12 plants and five animals, Fast Company reports. That leaves our food system vulnerable to diseases and weather conditions that wipe out entire crops, just like the Irish potato famine of the mid-1800s. To counteract that trend, chefs at fast-casual restaurants are adding alternative crops like fonio and cassava couscous to the menu. Will Ruby red rice bowls save us from the climate apocalypse? Only time will tell.
